1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a device for transferring load carriers between conveyor paths which are arranged at an angle relative to one another.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A device for guiding individual piece goods from a feed belt to an adjoining branch conveyor path is known from DE 32 41 100 A1. The guiding process is effected by a deflecting roller that presses the piece good to be transferred laterally out from the feed belt in the direction of the adjoining conveyor path. The deflecting rollers are arranged at the ends of a three-armed star wheel which is supported so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis adjacent to the feed belt. A robber-coated transport roller which is driven around a horizontal axis is provided at the start of the branch conveyor path to support the deflecting process. The deflected piece good is grasped by the transport roller and transported onward in the direction of the branch conveyor path.
This transfer device has proven disadvantageous, since the star wheel, together with the deflecting rollers, necessitates a large constructional width so that it is not possible to arrange another conveyor path immediately adjacent thereto. Moreover, the reliability of the transfer process is influenced by the friction ratios between the support surface of the piece good and the surface of the conveyor belt so that a transfer of the piece good may fail under unfavorable friction ratios.
Furthermore, a deflecting device for optional deflection of objects from a belt conveyor to a roller conveyor arranged at an angle thereto is known from EP 0094012 B1. This deflecting device substantially comprises a plurality of pairs of driven rollers which are arranged adjacent to one another so as to be distributed along the width of the belt conveyor and in the branch region between the belt conveyor, which is divided into two portions. Each pair of rollers has rollers which are arranged one after the other at a distance as seen in the transporting direction of the belt conveyor. These rollers project into the transporting plane of the belt conveyor. In order to deflect the transported objects the roller pairs can be swiveled out of their position parallel to the transporting direction of the belt conveyor into the direction of the branch roller conveyor.
This deflecting device also proves disadvantageous in that the deflecting capacity of the device is restricted by the required return swiveling process of the pair of rollers and the belt conveyor path must be interrupted for the deflecting device.